Wednesday, February 28, 2001

NATO urges reform Government assures Robertson it will work to upgrade military By Michael Mainville On the surface, NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson could not have been more effusive in his praise of the Czech Republic during a recent two-day visit. In meeting after meeting with Czech officials, the former Scottish parliamentarian and British secretary of defense praised the military for its steps toward modernization and its contribution to NATO peacekeeping efforts. "I recognize fully the efforts made by the Czech armed forces to move from being, 10 years ago, part of the Warsaw Pact to part of the NATO alliance," Robertson said, after a meeting with Foreign Minister Jan Kavan. "And I'd like to pay tribute to the Czech armed forces and indeed to the people of the Czech Republic for the efforts made in the Balkans by Czech peacekeepers." That was the official Robertson. The unofficial one dispensed with the flattery. He made it clear, in fact, that NATO is not fully satisfied with the progress Prague has made toward fulfilling the commitments it agreed to when it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization two years ago. "Modernization is required in order to live up to NATO's demanding standards and more will need to be done to satisfy NATO's demands," he said. "The Czech armed forces need to be reshaped: They need to be smaller, they need to be lighter and they need to be more mobile." Robertson, in Prague Feb. 21-23, said he was pleased by pledges he received from government and opposition politicians promising to unite in an effort to upgrade the armed forces. He was cheered by Prime Minister Milos Zeman's promise to take a personal and hands-on interest in the issue. "I fully understand the need for modernization," Zeman said. "And we are in a better position to do that than two years ago because the economic situation has improved." But just how the country can meet NATO's demands is unclear. The thorniest issue by far involves the purchase of up to 36 new supersonic jets. Last month, the government asked Western aircraft manufacturers to submit bids for the100 billion Kc ($2.5 billion) purchase, which will be the biggest arms deal in Czech history. Following the deaths of four pilots in three crashes involving aging Soviet-built MiGs, few here question the need to modernize the air force. But critics like President Vaclav Havel and former United States Ambassador John Shattuck attacked the plan to buy new instead of used planes as an unnecessary expenditure. Even Finance Minister Pavel Mertlik admits the deal's financial implications trouble him. Robertson stepped gingerly around the jet issue, citing NATO's non-interference policy with member states. "What we do say," said Robertson, "is that any decision has to be cost-effective in view of other priorities for improvement." Slow tanks Few have suggested the purchase is cost-effective, not even Zeman. There were other sore spots. Robertson suggested the Czech army's emphasis on traditional equipment, like heavy tanks, might work to the detriment of the rapid-response capabilities that NATO requires. Of the army's 68,000 soldiers, only 400 are allocated for NATO duties. Czech parachutists on the NATO rapid-response team are short of parachutes because some of those supplied were faulty. Though government defense spending -- 2.2 percent of gross domestic product -- is considered satisfactory, Robertson said NATO is more interested in how money is being spent. "Spending more and spending on the wrong things does not add up to better security," he admonished. "Spending wisely and spending more is what NATO's defense policy is all about." Wise spending would require the drafting of a comprehensive modernization plan, something that seems to be low on the government's priority list, as Havel lamented shortly after his meeting with Robertson. "I have tried with my limited powers to promote the idea that an army should have a simple, universally understood vision of its development and that individual decisions taken by governments can be made against the background of that vision," Havel said. "Instead, we have been starting the discussion with supersonic planes and what company to buy them from, which looks to me like beginning at the end." Defense Minister Vladimir Vetchy did say he hopes to have a draft modernization plan ready by June and finalized by the fall, before the heads of NATO states gather here next year for the alliance's first-ever summit in a former Warsaw Pact country. Robertson said he hopes that at the Prague summit NATO will be able to present the Czech Republic, along with Poland and Hungary, as a model for aspiring member nations such as Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. Michael Mainville's e-mail address is mmainville@praguepost.cz